Page 101 of Royal Fling
I guess this whole affair had been a blessing in disguise indeed. Even if Luke didn’t want me back, I’d found sides of my parents, of my family, and our part in society that I never thought possible.
“I’ll tell Teagan to prepare the jet,” I said and reached for my phone to send her a quick text message.
I was doing this. This was happening. I just…
I just hoped it paid off.
“Just… don’t propose to him again, for crying out loud,” Evan said, and I threw him my most evil glare.
How dare he.
Twenty-Seven
Luke
“Mr. Luke, is it true you met a real-life prince?” Arden asked, her hand pulled so high up in the air she could have dislocated a shoulder.
I laughed and leaned against the front of my desk, facing my kids. Boy, had I missed them. Being back in the classroom was like I was back at home with my fifteen kids.
“It’s true, Arden,” I said.
She and Cordelia giggled before the latter raised her hand, too.
“Did he wear a crown, Mr. Luke?”
“No, he didn’t. But he did wear his insignia,” I said.
“What’s a signi-up, Mr. Luke?” Jeremy asked.
“In-sig-ni-a,” I corrected, and some of the kids repeated after me as if they were excited to learn an exclusively royal word. “It’s a badge.”
“What kind of badge, Mr. Luke?”
I told them however much I knew about insignias and the Order of the Phoenix and all the other stuff I’d learned about royals since I’d met August.
I certainly didn’t expect my first day back to be overwhelmingly about my summer fling, but I didn’t mind it. In a way, their excitement about my life was entertaining. And telling them about it was… it was therapeutic. It was like I could detach the real Luke from the one that experienced everything and not be so sad about it.
“Does he have a horse?” Tommy asked.
“None that I’ve seen, Tommy. But I imagine his family does have them,” I answered.
Laura’s hand shot up. She’d been quiet up until now, and when I turned to her, her voice was barely a whisper. She was quite shy, but considering she’d come into first grade barely able to look me in the eyes, she’d come a long way. And I was hoping we could make more progress this year.
“Do you love him, Mr. Luke?” she asked.
And just like that…
Sad, depressed, lonely all over again.
It was all fun and games when they were asking silly questions that I could big up, but that? That wasn’t a game.
“Are we going to spend the whole day talking about the prince now?” I said, looking at the rest of the classroom.
The whole classroom sang yes in unison.
Crap.
I was doomed.
